New rules, same game: the case of Lithuanian Smart specialization

ABSTRACT

The main goal is to discuss the development of regional innovation strategies 3 (RIS3) in Lithuania as the primary instrument for accessing European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) for the research and innovation (R&I) system. The article analyses the landscape of the Lithuanian R&I system, which has not gone through any major changes yet in relation to the RIS3. A proposition is raised, that the development of RIS3 can be seen as a set of certain type of rules and procedures to fulfil the ex ante conditionality, which has been enforced by the European Commission (EC) to access the ESIF, but the result is not obvious at the moment. The development of RIS3 can be seen as a game of developing a strategy without a real obligation to implement it. As it did not bring substantial changes to the landscape or performance of the R&I system of Lithuania yet, it did change certain policy-making practices and stakeholder involvement. This does indicate that the rules of RIS3 development itself are a mechanism of some change, even if the ideal result of a well-performing R&I system would not be achieved. RIS3 should be seen as a continuous process, which now is a precursor for future policy-making practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Smart specialization
• Lithuania
• innovation policy
• research and innovation system